Hazelnuts, walnuts and chestnuts ready to crack or roast. The hazelnuts on the left still need extracting from their husks. If the don’t ‘roll’ out easily or they have some of the husk still attached, or they have a tiny hole then they will be no good and need discarding.
The black walnuts are really good. When they are ripe and come off the tree the husks become a soggy black staining mess which needs to be cleaned off – not an easy task. I’ve always read that you have to wait to this stage to harvest them but we found that if you got to them just before this stage then the green husk could be easily and cleanly peeled off. Once they have been aired and dried the nuts inside taste just as good and it’s a lot less mess and work. Beware if you are handling the walnuts once the husks have gone black they really stain!